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Chapter 32
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Geneal stood over Dynan, watching the monitors carefully. His collarbone was broken again. Sliced through. This time there was hardly enough real bone left to attempt fusing, though she knew eventually that’s what she would do. Later, she thought, working to keep his condition stable, now that he was breathing again. Living, she thought, unsure how long he would stay that way.
The wound gaping in his chest was still serious. The treatment she had invented to repair his heart, somewhat similar to the healing fluids she’d devised eight years ago, was working – at the moment. The shock to his system kept his heartbeat irregular. She guessed she would have to put him on a full support system, just like last time.
Her father appeared at her side, looking over her shoulder. “I had to see for myself,” he said, glancing back at Dain. “Have you tried tribodal?”
“Yes.”
“Increase the dosage. How much blood have you given him?”
“Two units. He’s on the third now.” She started to explain what else she’d done, leaving off how she’d known to prepare for such a wound, but before she finished, the heart monitor went off and Dynan’s heart stopped beating. “Damn it.”
Her father handed her the cardial stimulator, but she set it aside. “I’m using trillodens,” she said and put her hand back inside the incision, using a pressure and release method to get the heart to start beating again. Geneal checked the progress of the repair, though the medication hardly had time to work yet. Still, it was working.
“Really,” Eldelar said. “That’s an interesting concept. How long before they’re inactive?”
“That depends on the extent of the repair,” she said and used her shoulder to wipe her eyes, having blood on just about every other part of her arms.
Eldelar looked at her. “Tell me, did you happen to forget what I told you about becoming more than just professionally involved with Princes?”
She shook her head and wiped her eyes again. “They’re my friends. I don’t like to see them hurt.”
“Which one was it?”
She looked at him. “Dain. It was a long time ago, Pop. I never expected to see him alive again.”
“If I may make a suggestion then—”
“I already know and I even agree. I thought I would be all right.”
“You will be, I’m sure, but I’ll make any final decisions about their treatment.” He looked up at Dynan’s monitors. “How long has his brain wave pattern been flat line?”
“Since he came in.”
“And Dain?”
“The same.”
“Who’s the girl?”
“It’s a little complicated.”
“Everything always was, Geneal.”
“It still is.”
Her father smiled, leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’ve been waiting for this day for such a long time. I feared it would turn out just this way, but I’m so glad to have you back.” He nodded to Loren. “I’ve got him. Go check her.”
Geneal nodded, smiling over how little he’d changed in all these years. He was older, but then so was she. He was still very much in charge of the facility and it was a relief to have his level of expertise and knowledge to draw on for this infinitely complicated treatment she’d dreamed up. She’d come up with it in the hopes her father would be there to help implement it. Now that he was, she felt she could breathe just a little easier.
Before she moved to Loren’s side, she peeled off her tunic coat and put on a surgical suit instead. Those were more skin tight on her arms. She gathered up another kit, activating a biomonitor as she sat beside Loren.
“She’s been in the dungeons,” she said, judging by the clinging smell.
“I noticed.”
Geneal frowned at the torn gown and the dirt on Loren’s face. Her pulse was strong. The biomonitor told her something else and she pressed another sequence of keys, closing her eyes against a sudden swell of grief. The readings told her too, that Loren would be all right. The bleeding had already stopped and she wasn’t in any further danger from the miscarriage. Geneal saw something else. Her breath cut short and she glanced over at Dain, unsure what to think, except to know that they had been together.
“I can’t explain now, Pop. Later, all right?”
“Certainly.”
“We’re going to need more help in here,” she said, moving to Marc after making Loren comfortable, turning him so that she could see the new wound along his side, and checked the old wounds as well. She put Loren out of her mind and Dain too, while she cleaned and sealed Marc’s injury. “Did you get any response at all?”
“Ha!” her father barked. “Yes, but an unsatisfactory one. No one can get through they say, because there is a battle being fought on the front doorstep, which is precisely why we need them here.”
“We’re never going to make it through this without more physicians. They’re medics. They won’t be hurt.”
“That might have been true when you left,” Eldelar said. “Now though, no one is safe. Even I was threatened. I moved your mother to Arel because of that.”
“How is she?”
“She’d be delighted to know you asked,” he said, smiling.
“Father.”
“I’m sorry, but you haven’t had to live with her all this time. She hasn’t forgiven either of us.”
“It’s not like I had a choice when I left.”
“I put you in the position of being involved, so therefore I am responsible. According to her, at least.” He turned to Dain, making quick work of stripping him out of his clothes with the use of a laser cutter. Old scars circled his wrists. Finger-thick welts wound around his side and across his back. “It hasn’t been easy for her with two physicians in the family and especially when she had other hopes for one of us.” He frowned. “Have you seen this?”
Geneal didn’t look and shook her head, moving back to Dynan’s side.
“He’s been given a kind of drug that hasn’t been seen since the wars,” he said. He went to a drug cabinet and started looking through it.
“You mean a ramping drug?” she asked and her father nodded. He had out a dosage meter, preparing a dermal injector to counter the medication. “Can you reverse it?”
“He’ll have to be monitored. We’ll see how this works to ease the effect. It certainly doesn’t look like he had an easy time of it. There’s nothing here to indicate a cause for his current condition. No recent head injuries.” He looked at the monitors closely. “This is one of those damn twin things, isn’t it?”
“Probably. Carryn always said they were too closely linked. It’s hard to tell if that’s what’s happening though.”
“We may have to break that link.”
“I won’t use anethinol unless I absolutely have to.”
“It’s already been used. Extensively and dangerously so.”
“He’s been with Maralt all this time, Pop, and Carryn thought he used anethinol on him to keep him from reaching Dynan.”
“Dynan didn’t know?”
“None of us knew he was alive until we landed at Beren. Dynan realized it then. Marc too.”
“Marc? That one I suppose? How would he—”
“He’s a telepath. He’s never been here,” Geneal said, hesitating. She realized she would have to lie to her father and that was something she hadn’t ever done before. “He joined us after we thought Dain had died.”
Marc muttered then and she moved to his side. His eyes opened a moment later and he struggled. “No, no, don’t...” he said wildly, cowering away. Pain stopped him quickly and Geneal moved to prevent him from moving again, relieved that he was waking.
“Easy, Marc. It’s all right.” She put a hand on his head, waiting for his eyes to focus on her.
Relief flooded his face as he recognized her. He tried rising again, but couldn’t, gritting his teeth. “Dynan? Where’s Dynan?”
“Right here,” she said gently, moving aside so he could see. “Dain too. They’re both alive.” She didn’t offer her prognosis, thinking he didn’t need to hear it just yet.
His eyes closed briefly. “Loren?”
“She’s here too. She’s going to be all right.”
“Is Maralt dead?” he asked, looking over at Dynan and Dain.
“Yes. I think so, at least.” She smiled grimly at that. “I don’t know how it all happened exactly, or what’s happening now.”
“Who’s in charge?”
“Allie as far as I can tell. For the time being.”
Fear started in his eyes. “What about Carryn?” he asked slowly. When Geneal didn’t answer, he started. “Who else?”
“Too many,” she said wearily. “Ralion, Trevan, and Allie are the only ones who made it down here. I saw Boral, but he didn’t come with us. We don’t know about Gaden yet.”
Marc stared again, shaking his head in disbelief. He lay still for a moment, then moved. “Help me up. I have to find out what’s going on.”
“You won’t last ten minutes,” she said, but she helped him sit.
He pushed himself up, pain threatening to overwhelm him. Geneal watched his monitor, the pain indicators rising then settling. “Can I get a shirt?”
Ralion limped in then, leaning heavily on an anti-grav cane.
“Your old one will have to do.” Geneal went to Ralion, checking his bandaged side. She shook her head at it, then at him. “This won’t hold if you have to fight.”
“I’ll try to avoid it then.” He glanced at Dain. “You need to put a restraint field on him.”
“He won’t be waking up any time soon, Ralion,” she said, confused by his tone.
“Put one on him anyway. He killed Sheed. He’s the reason I’m here, Marc, and Dynan. Put a restraint field on him now.”
Marc held up his hand as he stood. “He’s right. We need to be certain that Maralt is dead. There’s no way to tell what Dain will do after being controlled for this long. You should have a guard stationed in here too.”
Geneal relented slowly, unwilling to think of Dain being a danger to them, but he’d been given a kind of drug that wiped out normal inhibitions to violence. Her father agreed. Geneal looked at Loren, remembering the other monitor readings. “All right.”
Marc struggled with his bloodied shirt, then found his jacket and put it on. The monitor cuff he wore told her more readily how he felt than his face did. He was trying not to show how much pain he was in. “That’s not so bad,” he said cheerfully, though his eyes didn’t agree. “I’ll be all right.”
She only nodded half-heartedly, gently removing the cuff. “We can’t afford to lose any more of us. Try to remember that.” She turned to Ralion. “Be careful.”
“I’ll do that.” He looked for a moment as though he might say something more. He glanced at Dain instead, his face darkening. “Come on, Marc.”
Ralion turned and hobbled from the room. Marc followed at about the same pace. He caught up as they limped past the room Trevan rested in. “Is he going to be all right?” Marc asked as he glanced in.
Ralion nodded. “He’ll be up tomorrow, I think, sooner if we aren’t given that much time.”
“How bad is it?”
“Pretty bad, considering who we have left to run this circus.”
He was afraid to ask the next question, but had to. “Do you know if Maralt is dead?”
“You two, come with us,” Ralion said to Mikk Jorg and Jarrid Rohn as they went through a large room off the corridor they’d just come down. “I think he’s dead. I saw him with Carryn’s sword stuck through him. He looked pretty dead to me. Why don’t you try and raise Allie.”
Marc nodded, smiling in relief, even when he didn’t completely believe it He activated his transmitter. “Allie, this is Marc. Can you hear me?”
“Yes, I’m ... No, go that way. You’ve got to reach that pocket of our men and help get them out. Now move.” Allie cleared his throat. “I’m here, Marc. It’s good to hear your voice.”
“Yours too. What’s the situation up there?”
“Not good. I hardly have a hundred men left standing. We’re holding the stair down to you, but we won’t last long. You need to get ready to move everyone out.”
“There are some of us who won’t survive a move like that,” he said, guessing Allie would know who he referred to. They moved through a thick metal door that clanged shut behind them and re-bolted.
“None of us will survive if we stay.”
“I’ll relay that message.”
“If you’re thinking about coming up here, don’t. I’m heading down right now.”
Marc and Ralion stopped out in the wide hallway at the base of the stairs that led up to the Palace main hall, looking at each other. “Are you retreating?” Ralion asked.
“More or less. I’m only slightly outnumbered. If we lose too many more men, we won’t make it out at all.”
Ralion glanced at Marc. “How fast do you think you can move?”
“Faster than I want to I bet. Let’s go.”
They started up, meeting the first retreating men. Ralion quickly instructed them to form up again at the foot of the stairs and to make some sort of barricade out of whatever they could find. Ralion sent Mikk and Jarrid on ahead. He and Marc continued on, slowing the more steps they had to climb. The closer they drew to the main hall, the louder the sounds of fighting became. More men passed them, some carried by others. Finally, Ralion and Marc reached the top, falling into the back hall.
To their left, the courtyard stood blanketed in snow. It was cold, shattered windows allowing frigid air inside. They saw Allie with a small number of guards holding open a space for others to get by, standing at the corner into the main hall.
“Can you fight?” Ralion asked.
Marc snorted. “Do I have a choice?”
“No.” Ralion drew his weapon, advancing into the battle.
Marc shook his head, moving in front of him. “You’re in worse shape than I am.”
“I thought I told you not to come up here,” Allie said, glancing at them, his face tense.
“When have I ever listened to you,” Ralion commented. “Watch it Marc.”
“I see him.”
Marc defended the blow aimed at him. Ralion put the finishing and final touch to it by skewering their attacker. It hurt to breathe suddenly. Marc would have leaned on his knees except there was a man trying to kill him. Marc killed him instead.
Ralion parried another thrust from another assailant who had managed to get by Mikk and Jarrid. Ralion killed the man and they were given a moment. “You all right?” he asked Marc
“No,” he said and leaned against the nearest pillar.
“Allie, are all our guys by us?”
“Almost. Let’s move back to the stair.”
“I agree. Come on, Marc.”
He grunted, pushed himself up, and moved as he straightened. Allie gave curt orders to those men who remained and they retreated. For a breath, they had time, but then the enemy came round the corner and down the hall toward them. Ralion, Marc, and Allie barely managed to reach the stair before they were set on. Allie gave them time to get a few steps down, fighting off attack after attack and somehow escaping injury.
Ralion stepped in front to relieve him, using the wall as a prop. Marc suddenly stopped, a quizzical frown on his face, a hand pressed against his ear. At first he thought he had imagined it, but slowly recognized the voice he heard.
“Gaden!” Marc said, drawing Allie’s attention briefly. “He’s on his way here. He says he’s got a thousand men.”
“What?” Ralion and Allie asked at the same time.
“Listen.”
Above the clang and clash of nearby swords, a roar of advancing men reached them. Their enemies’ expressions changed as they too heard the oncoming assault.
Allie and Gaden met at the foot of the main stair as the enemy was driven from the Palace. Marc hobbled up with an arm around Ralion though he wasn’t walking too steadily either, watching as they embraced.
“Not bad for just a kid,” Ralion said, smiling at the rout that was taking place in the main hall. Kamien’s men were completely overwhelmed by the men from Rianamar and they soon fled, or were taken prisoner.
“We need to set up a patrol and reinforce the guard on the Medic Center,” Marc said.
Ralion agreed. “This isn’t over. I know Rianamar’s full strength hasn’t gotten here.”
“No, it hasn’t,” Ildin Taldic said as he approached, sheathing his sword. Two men who acted as his guards remained alert.
“Well, if it isn’t our future Governor of Rianamar,” Ralion said with the slightest hint of sarcasm. “I’m going to go set up those patrols.” He hobbled off toward the main doors.
Marc wondered what that was about, noting a distinct chill between the two men, though Ildin was smiling. “I see some things haven’t changed.” He glanced around the hall and at the scattered bodies that littered the floor. “Who’s in charge here?”
Allie looked over at Marc. He started to shake his head, but was met with a slight smile. Allie pointed at him. “He is, Ildin. This is First Commander Marc Talryn.”
“What of Carryn? And Boral?” Ildin asked, stopping when he saw heads shaking. “Prince Dynan, is he...”
“He’s alive and thanks to you and Gaden, a lot safer than he was a few minutes ago,” Marc said. “What do you think we can expect from Rianamar?”
“We managed to divert roughly a thousand City guards, though the ruse will only hold for perhaps another hour. The main body of Kamien’s troops are scattered through the System, trying to maintain order with the Guilds and Governors. They might have been recalled, but getting them back to Rianamar will require the cooperation of the Transport Guild. They won’t get it.”
Marc nodded briefly. “We’ve got an hour then before more bad guys get here. Who’s giving them their orders?”
“Kamien, I would expect, unless you’ve taken care of his order giving capacity,” Ildin said.
“We haven’t seen him.”
“Then I would guess he’s not in the Palace. Perhaps he escaped to a Governor’s home. There are a few he’s particularly friendly with,” Ildin said. “My father will know better who that may be.”
“Gaden, would you go help Ralion,” Allie said quietly and Marc saw him struggling to move. “We should get you back downstairs. There’s no sense in wasting ourselves on this effort. We have things well enough under control up here.”
“For the time being anyway. After the attack by the City guard, how long before another?” Marc asked.
“That’s difficult to say,” Ildin said. “As far as I know the base hasn’t received any orders to attack. If they do, I don’t have any doubt you’ll be defeated. I don’t know what made Prince Dynan think he could succeed without at least his base fleet and King Drake.”
“He had his reasons,” Allie said. “One of which was to get control of the Palace and stop this business before all the armies got involved. It would be stupid of him to destroy what will be his own forces. We still have the Murians to contend with after this is over.”
“And hopefully not before then,” Ildin added grimly. “Please forgive any presumption on my part. I’m only expressing my concern.”
Allie smiled. “Presume all you like, Ildin. You’ve been here all this time. I haven’t.”
Gaden arrived at the stair, helping Ralion stand. “You’re still here,” Ralion grunted at Ildin.
“And you are still standing,” Ildin said with a slight nod.
“Here, I’ll take him,” Allie said, moving to replace his brother at Ralion’s side. “We’re going downstairs.”
“That patrol I set up should be reporting in soon. We need to know what they say,” Ralion said. “Gaden stay here and keep an eye out.”
Gaden nodded and trotted off toward the front stair. Allie watched him, smiling. “He’s doing better than all of us,” he said.
“That’s because he’s barely out of diapers,” Ralion said.
“Come on you two, let’s get you downstairs,” Allie said, smiling after his brother.
“I’m waiting on you, pal.”
Allie pulled Ralion along, followed by Ildin and his two guards. Marc followed more slowly and soon fell behind. He knew he was bleeding again, could feel the warm trickle down his side. He didn’t feel any terrible or great pain, but only a persistent burning ache. He was tired and he wanted to lie down and sleep. He doubted any of them could afford it. They were too few in number now.
He stopped, leaning wearily against cold stone, an intense and stark sorrow growing. He missed Boral’s encouraging optimism, Xavier’s steady calm and Frazier’s leadership. He felt worse for Ralion and Trevan, who had lost their best friends in Sheed and Lycon. He was afraid for Dynan and Dain, knowing what Maralt had done to them. He was afraid for himself because he’d done something he shouldn’t have, pushing Dynan the way he had, forcing him to listen to him and making him do what he had to. The thought had already occurred that he would have to do more to reach them. And what he had felt for the brief instant that he’d held the soul of Dynan’s child, the incredible alluring power emanating from it, the instant desire to take it, sickened him. This time Carryn wasn’t around to threaten his life. Marc was more afraid and then ashamed of the relief he felt.
He shook his head, trying to stop the thoughts, and concentrated on moving. He passed by two junctions, one leading down to a pillared hall under the guest wing that looked out onto the courtyard gardens. The other led down a short flight of steps to a door and stopped. This, he guessed, was the door to the dungeons. It was a door unlike any other in the Palace, made of thick wood and banded by heavy metal. Marc felt his skin crawl and kept going.
He reached the stairs to the Medic Center, his footfalls echoing against the stone surrounding him. It reminded him too much of Sadek’s basement. When he didn’t think he could stand the sound anymore, or the thought of being so far underground, the walls to either side disappeared. They opened onto a long and wide stone hall, now well-manned by the men from the Exile Base. That left the Rianamar forces to guard the Palace grounds. He saw Mikk Jorg and Jarrid Rohn at the foot of the stairs, making sure anyone who came down was supposed to be there.
Marc walked to another corridor off to his left that led to the Royal quarters that stood on the right of that hall. The guards let him through the shield door that was still down and then again at the door at the end of another corridor. Another hall ended at a wider room that served as a waiting area. The door was opened for him and he stepped in. He heard a gasp and looked up, his dark thoughts fading quickly.
Loren stared, blinking at him, her face a mixture of confusion and joy. Everyone else seemed surprised at her reaction, but Marc remembered what she had witnessed on Trea. He smiled and held out his arms, her presence soothing his straining conscious. It all seemed right again as he took her and held her close, smoothing her disheveled hair, trying to stop her tears and his own.
Marc saw the others in the room watching and realized belatedly that he shouldn’t be acting so familiar with her. Ildin Taldic stared in surprised silence. Marc didn’t care, closing his eyes against dragging weariness. Suddenly he felt his legs give out beneath him.
Allie jumped to catch him. Loren’s tears stopped, turning to concern. She helped ease him down into a close chair. While Allie went to get Geneal, Marc leaned over his knees, trying to assure Loren that he was all right. Geneal didn’t exactly agree, but she spared him the scolding.
“Help me get this shirt off,” she said to Loren. “Then I want you to sit down and stay that way.”
“I’m all right.” Loren smiled, then blanched when she saw the scar across his chest.
“It looks worse than it feels,” Marc said, squeezing her hand. He jumped when Geneal applied an instrument to reseal the open wound on his side. It wasn’t a painless process.
“It’s going to feel worse if you don’t stop putting pressure on it,” Geneal said as she re-bandaged him. “You weren’t in the greatest shape when we got here, remember?”
“I’m sure our enemies will be happy to allow me the time needed to recover,” Marc said, getting a little tired of being told the same thing, considering the situation. “We need to get everyone together to talk this over. Is Trevan awake?”
“Yes. You can use his room. I’ll tell the attendants not to disturb you.”
“I want you there too, if you can spare a minute.” He winced as he struggled with his shirt. “I need to know how Dynan and Dain are.” He saw Loren’s expression first, but Geneal’s was equally grim and haunted. He felt a chill of fear course through him. “Maybe we should go in here a minute.” They followed him into a small office beside the waiting room. “Allie,” he said into his crest pin, “have we got comterm access yet?”
“No, Marc.”
“We need to get started on that. Can you work on it from down here?”
“No.”
“All right. Don’t go anywhere yet. I’ll be back in a minute. Get everyone into Trevan’s room for me.” Allie agreed and Marc turned to Geneal. “What is it?”
“Dynan’s condition is critical,” She glanced briefly at Loren, who had obviously heard this news before. She explained more of the details of the nature of the injury than Marc wanted to know, except for the oddity of how Dain put the blade through Dynan’s heart exactly where he’d been stabbed before. Geneal seemed to think that made a significant impact on his survival. “The damage is still severe. I’ve been able to repair most of that, but the strain may be too much. Dain is also critical, unresponsive except there’s no physical reason for it. I’m guessing Maralt attacked them both.”
Marc shook his head, and sat down. “I don’t know how long things are going to hold together here without them. With Shalis on Trea, we may end up having to leave again.”
“If you can get a message to Shalis, I’d do it now.”
He nodded after a time, unsure how he would send that message. He didn’t think he could communicate with her so far away, and without a comterm, there wasn’t any other way to do it. He nodded again, though he felt completely overwhelmed. The only thing that made it at all endurable was the reassuring fact that Maralt Adaeryn was dead.
“All right. I still need you in with us.” He grimaced as he stood and thought he might not be able to walk, but the pain eased when he gave it a moment. Everyone was gathered in Trevan’s room. Marc saw that Ildin Taldic remained, talking quietly with Allie. Again, Marc wondered how far he could be trusted and hated the thought. He didn’t know any of the people from Rianamar and Ralion certainly didn’t like Ildin at all.
He shook his head then. Seeing as how the man had saved them from certain ruin, he guessed it would be all right to include him. He knew Dynan trusted Ildin’s father implicitly, so that would have to be good enough. Marc found an empty chair and sank into it, looking at the faces turned expectantly toward him.
“Have we gotten a report from those patrols yet?”
“Yes,” Allie said. “They’ve secured the Palace grounds and are setting up defensive lines as well as extending the perimeter beyond the gates. I doubt we’ll be able to hold that line under attack, but we may be able to keep them outside the Palace this time.”
“Before we go further,” Ralion interrupted. “I don’t think we all need to be here.” He nodded pointedly at Ildin. “I know he’s the future Governor of Rianamar, but that alone isn’t reason enough for this kind of trust.”
“Ralion,” Marc said before Ildin could respond. Allie opened his mouth to speak too, looking annoyed. “He just led a thousand men up here with Gaden. That ought to be proof of his intentions. Dynan always said he trusts his father. Sooner, or later we have to start trusting the people here or we won’t survive. Right now, that’s questionable as it is. He can stay.”
“I don’t know those thousand men that he led up here in so timely a fashion, or their motives.”
Marc held up his hand. “I said he could stay.” He saw the surprise on Ralion’s face and even Allie and Trevan seemed a little shocked, but the realization dawned quickly that he was indeed in command of their situation. “If any of you have a problem with me being in charge of this zoo, then say so now. You’re next, Ralion. You want the job?”
“No,” Ralion said quickly, shaking his head.
“All right then. Can we get on with this? We’ve got a lot of problems to figure out and we don’t have any time for debate. Our situation is not good.” He went on to explain what Geneal had told him about Dynan’s condition. He was about to tell them about Dain, but realized not everyone in the room knew of his existence. “You know, there are some details that Gaden isn’t aware of, and for now we can’t risk being overheard upstairs.” He looked at Allie. “You may want to tell him soon.”
“I’ll take care of it when we’re finished here.”
“We haven’t discovered whether this news is good or bad, for reasons I’ll explain, but it turns out that Dain Telaerin didn’t die two years ago as Dynan thought.”
Ildin started. “What? How is that possible? I—”
“We’re not sure of all the details. We’ll have to get those from Dain if he wakes up. That’s part of the bad news.” He then told them, that because of Dain’s current state of unconsciousness, he believed that Maralt had attacked him, after controlling him during the Throne Room assault.
“He couldn’t have attacked Dain,” Trevan said. “Maralt was already dead, or – well, he looked dead and Dain was already down.”
Marc frowned at that, trying to picture it and understand the sequence of events. He wondered if Maralt had released Dain as Marc suspected he might, after he’d stabbed Dynan. He glanced at Geneal, wondering if it was possible for a telepath to commit mental suicide.
“What difference does it make?” Ralion asked. “The end result is the same. There’s no one in authority here, not that we’d want Dain in charge anyway, but if we don’t get someone soon we’ll be looking at complete chaos.”
“What happened to Dain was not his fault,” Marc said. “Maralt was controlling him. There wasn’t anything he could have done to prevent what happened in the Throne Room, which is not something we want spread around either. If Dain wakes up, he will be in charge. We’ll be faced with chaos if it becomes widely known that he tried to kill Dynan. I don’t want anyone repeating that. As far as I’m concerned, Maralt is the one who wielded the weapon. My question is, can we go on as we have been, working under Dynan’s orders, but not tell anyone he can’t give any right now?”
Ralion subsided, though Marc could see he didn’t believe him. Ildin Taldic answered, plainly shocked by what he’d just heard. “For a time,” he said slowly. “You won’t be able to control your own men though for much longer. They need to see Prince Dynan or Dain to continue fighting for them. If it becomes known that they might not survive, this entire System will erupt. Are their injuries so severe that they can’t be brought to consciousness? If my father could talk to either of them, his word would go far to calm the situation.”
Geneal shook her head. “Both their brain scans are flat line, Ildin. Dynan is on a full support system right now. If he weren’t, he’d be dead. Dain is unreachable by any means available to medical science.” She glanced at Marc.
“If Maralt didn’t do this to him,” he said, “I might be able to reach him. He doesn’t really know me though, so it may not work, and I could die in the attempt, especially if Maralt set any traps. He had plenty of time to do so over the last two years.”
“And you’re hardly recovered from the last attack,” Geneal said, nodding.
“How long will we last without one of them being awake?” he asked Ildin.
“That depends on how long their condition remains secret.”
“Too many people know about it right now,” Allie said. “We haven’t been making any announcements, but the medics know and most of the guards here know. It’s going to get out.”
Marc nodded. “From now on, their condition isn’t to be discussed openly. Allie, I want you to get started on comterm access right away. We may need to get a message to Drake.”
“That’s going to take some time. Comterms are down across the System. I may be able to get inner-System coms up, but I won’t make any promises about the rest.”
“Then we may need to send the XR-9 back to Trea to get Shalis.”
Ildin gasped. “Princess Shalis is alive?”
Marc smiled. “Yes, she is. That’s a long story, my Lord, one we don’t have time for now.”
“There are issues,” Ralion said, “there as well. She’s barely old enough for the throne or the Regency, in the case of a prolonged inability of either Dynan or Dain to take the throne. The succession committee challenged Ambrose once. They’ll likely go after her without hesitation.”
“I’m not sure they would, considering the experience of these last years.” Ildin said.
“You mean the experience where the Governors refused to make an exception for Dynan’s age?” Ralion said, somewhat caustically, making Marc wonder again at what the problem was.
“Yes,” Ildin said. “You will recall that my father worked tirelessly to see that an exception was made. I agree, it should have been, but, well, I’m sure you remember why that didn’t happen. My father will do whatever he can to help handle that problem should it arise.”
“Do you speak for him?” Ralion asked.
“In this case, yes,” Ildin said. “Ralion, I’m not the enemy here. Neither is the First Governor.”
All Marc knew about that time had something to do with Liselle Telaerin, though again, the details weren’t really clear. Not that it mattered. What happened then had little bearing on their current situation, except to cause this obvious strain. Ralion had left off Garan’s existence as well and Marc decided not mentioning him was probably best. He nodded.
“I’m going to try and wake Dain. I think he’s doing this to himself. Ralion, if something happens to me, send a ship to Trea. We don’t have time to wait for the comterms. I’ll take Ildin at his word over the succession.”
“This is a mistake,” Ralion said, following him when he left the room. “Why don’t we send the ship now and you don’t try to wake Dain. We can hold on for five days. We were planning to anyway. Drake should be on his way three days from now.”
“But he won’t know to bring Shalis with him. Once a ship is close enough to Trea, it can send that message.” Marc held up his hand. “Ralion, I know it’s hard for you to believe this, but Dain can’t be held responsible for his actions.”
“He killed Sheed. He put his sword through—”
“Maralt killed Sheed. Maralt forced Dain to hurt Dynan. He didn’t want to. He could have killed me too, but he didn’t. You as well. You’re standing here right now because Dain tried to stop it. Dynan is alive because Dain was so careful with his aim that he hit the exact same wound at exactly the right angle. Geneal tells me that was the difference between him living and him dying instantly. Now, are you going to do as I’ve said and send for Shalis, or do I need to get someone else to do it?”
Ralion stared at him angrily, then shook his head. “I’ll do it. I still think you’re making a mistake trying to bring Dain back. We don’t know what he’ll be like if you wake him.”
“If I’m right about what happened, Maralt released him, and the power he had over him doesn’t exist anymore. I’m hoping he’ll be the same Dain he always was.”
“If you knew him, you’d realize that wasn’t so great either. Having him in charge here won’t be any better than having no one in charge.” He stopped when Geneal came out with Loren and Marc wondered at the sudden uncomfortable silence. Geneal was plainly not happy with Ralion and Marc started to see why he was so adamant about not waking Dain.
“We don’t have a choice,” he said and followed Geneal and Loren while Ralion slowly came along.
He heard Geneal gasp as she went in, stopping abruptly in the doorway, then Eldelar’s voice. For a heart-stopping moment, Marc thought Dynan had died. He reached the door, his own amazement halting him where he stood.
